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ESC and Motor Wires

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 1:18 am
by metallicats33
Is there any issues with using copper stranded wires for the ESC and Motor?

Re: ESC and Motor Wires

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 7:56 am
by jwscab
most of the wire is copper, through the silicone jacketed variety that you see on most escs is copper then plated with silver or other metal.

the best thing to use is the silicone jacketed stuff, that is very flexible. this can withstand the high current and vibration requirements that these models have. Other wire will work if you make sure to always inspect it for melting jackets and frayed connections.

Re: ESC and Motor Wires

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2010 12:03 am
by metallicats33
The wire I got is used for truck cab electrical. 12,14 and 16 gauge. feels nice and flexable. rated at 50 volts... not sure about the amps rating though

Re: ESC and Motor Wires

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2010 8:03 am
by jwscab
it will probably work fine, just keep an eye on the jacketing, and use the largest possible size there (12 AWG). there is no current 'rating' for a piece of wire, all wire has some resistance per unit length, which generates heat when current is passes through it. The amount of current dictates how hot the wire gets because of this, which in turn causes breakdown on the jacketing. That's why you always overkill wire size on high current applications if possible.

Re: ESC and Motor Wires

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2010 4:53 pm
by GJW
just be careful when resoldering new wire into a speed control, some of them have multi-layered circuit boards which can pose a problem if you dont re-solder all they way through, try to get the heat on and off as quick as possible as surface mount electronics dont like to much heat. best of luck 8)